As arguably the most talent-rich habitat in mixed martial arts (MMA) today, the UFC’s lightweight division is consistently churning out world-class killers. From reinvented champions to undefeated Russian crushers, the 155-pound roster is chock-full of savage suitors. And considering the weight class attracts the likes of the featherweight and welterweight divisions, it’s become a popular
As arguably the most talent-rich habitat in mixed martial arts (MMA) today, the UFC’s lightweight division is consistently churning out world-class killers.
From reinvented champions to undefeated Russian crushers, the 155-pound roster is chock-full of savage suitors. And considering the weight class attracts the likes of the featherweight and welterweight divisions, it’s become a popular landing spot for aspiring title contenders of all shapes and sizes.
But with lightweight bouts such as Rafael dos Anjos vs. Conor McGregor and Anthony Pettis vs. Eddie Alvarez looming on the horizon, we’re reminded of past divisional tilts that have helped raise the weight class to unparalleled prominence.
In accordance with the blood, sweat, and tears put forth by past lightweights, here are the five best fights in division history.
If you’re a big follower of MMA personalities on the social medias, you might’ve gotten wind of something called #UFCFightKit earlier today, which rang in the official unveiling of the Reebok’s UFC fighter uniforms (or “kits”). The ceremony — which kicked off in NYC just 20 minutes past its 10 am-scheduled time — was of what we’ve come to expect from the UFC’s “style over substance”-themed press events: A hysterically inept series of flubs that managed to both hyperstimulate and underwhelm at every conceivable turn.
Truthfully, the only enjoyment anyone has been able to scrape out of the whole ordeal has come via the brutal mocking the event has received on said social medias, so join after the jump to check out all the highlights (if you can call them that) from this morning’s ceremony. In keeping with the UFC’s way of doing things, this list will neither be 10 items long nor adhere to any numerical system.
If you’re a big follower of MMA personalities on the social medias, you might’ve gotten wind of something called #UFCFightKit earlier today, which rang in the official unveiling of the Reebok’s UFC fighter uniforms (or “kits”). The ceremony — which kicked off in NYC just 20 minutes past its 10 am-scheduled time — was of what we’ve come to expect from the UFC’s “style over substance”-themed press events: A hysterically inept series of flubs that managed to both hyperstimulate and underwhelm at every conceivable turn.
Truthfully, the only enjoyment anyone has been able to scrape out of the whole ordeal has come via the brutal mocking the event has received on said social medias, so join after the jump to check out all the highlights (if you can call them that) from this morning’s ceremony. In keeping with the UFC’s way of doing things, this list will neither be 10 items long nor adhere to any numerical system.
10: The Music
While we are eternally grateful that the UFC had the nu-ance to pass on the nu-metal (I’m sorry) stylings of STEMM for today’s event, what we were given in its place was something arguably worse: Overbearing, wub-wub-laden dubstep. Or maybe it was trap. I honestly have no idea.
Look, the UFC’s fanbase is already widely-perceived as musclehead, skull t-shirt clad dudebros who can barely make it through a PPV without destroying a Buffalo Wild Wings, so can we please not add these kind of douchebags to the equation? What’s so wrong with Soundgarden, is I guess what I’m saying.
Ironically enough, it wasn’t until today’s launch that I realized “Watch you rise, watch you fall, now I’m about to break” perfectly describes the journey of a UFC fan over the past 5 years.
9: The Lighting (Or Lack Thereof)
I will never claim to be the authority on fashion, fashion shows, or any season of America’s Next Top Model (barring season 2, obvi), but when you’re holding a lavish ceremony to show off your “game-changing” and other buzzwordy uniforms, shouldn’t you actually be able to see said uniforms? Or the fighters wearing them? That photo up there? The brightest it ever was during the ceremony.
For the most part, fighters entered in complete darkness, with only the occasional laser or strobe light to lead the way. It was…confusing from a focal standpoint. The entire unveiling looked like it was shot in the same basement wherein Wanderlei Silva documents his slow spiral into schizophrenia.
(That’s Rory MacDonald in the second photo, BTW, perhaps the only fighter at the ceremony who was accustomed to lifelessly standing around in the dark.)
7.5: The Voice
As if hearing the phrase “UFC Fight Kit” repeated ad nauseum by a robotic, overly-reverbed and oddly threatening voice (while the same 30-second dubstep tracked played on loop) wasn’t off-putting enough , it would’ve helped if the UFC/Reebok had hired a voiceover guy who knew how to pronounce the actual fighters names. “Cai-yeen Velasqwez”, “Alexander Goose-stuffson”, and “Fabricio Ver-dumm” were just a few choice selections that this demon-infested Speak-n-Spell spat out.
Eleventeen: This Camera Angle
Because nothing says “passionate” and “prepared” quite like repeatedly cutting to a shot of your presenters AS THEY READ OFF A TELEPROMPTER.
It’s probably hard enough to go up in front of a room full of of journalists (as well as the hundreds of thousands of tens of people watching online) and act as if adding mesh to a t-shirt is the next evolutionary step of our species, but to send a heavily-accented German woman who probably wouldn’t know what MMA was if I told her I covered it for a living? That’s just cruel, son.
I’m sure Ms. Werkle is a lovely woman, and she was never short on enthusiasm throughout her presentation, but she also seemed to have no clue who the fighters she was speaking to even were.
“What happened to your arm?” she asked Joanna Jedrzejczyk, who calmly explained that she got it defending her title all of 8 days ago.
“What are you up to in the next 2 weeks? Are you training?” she asked Cain Velasquez, who just lost his title all of 17 days ago.
She almost got kicked in the head by Conor McGregor. The whole thing was hilarious.
6 x 3 (2w + 8): The Uniforms Themselves
I’ll give Reebok this, they seemed to put a lot of thought into the bra technology of the women’s uniforms, as explained by a painfully awkward exchange between Werkle and Ronda Rousey late in the ceremony, but the men’s kits?
“I dunno, bro, maybe just add some more slanted stripes and call it a day.” — Reebok design team
I’m not saying the UFC’s uniforms had to contain Aoki-esque levels of eye factor — and how could you expect that from a company uniform, really? — but this looks like an NBA warm-up shirt over a pair of bleached jorts. Highly customizable? I think not. “Allow for individualism“? Not so much.
#Pineapple: The Prices
95 DOLLARS? FOR A HERNANI PERPETUO REPLICA “JERSEY”? WHAT THE FUCK’S A HERNANI PERPETUO?!! LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
I know what you’re thinking, “But a football jersey costs around that much, you biased, UFC h8r non-journalisty subjective a-hole!!” To which I say: True, but I don’t recall any Tom Brady jerseys with giant “N–F–L” letters plastered across the front flying off the shelves. That’s because they don’t exist. That’s because uniforms are supposed to be representative of the player/team, not the corporation that owns them. Because fans are interested more in the players than the brand they are (unwillingly) bound to.
The UFC brought in 20 or more off its biggest talents, then proceeded to have them stand in the darkness like creepy living mannequins while strobe lights lit up their UFC-branded torsos and nothing else. If that doesn’t tell you who the UFC really values first and foremost, I don’t know what does.
Too: The Ending
No music. No lights. Barely an applause. Werkle stumbles through a recap of the pillars of fighter uniforms and then, darkness. Not unlike the darkness left in my soul after realizing that I actually wasted an hour of my life watching this, and now double that writing this article…
God, why have you forsaken me? Why have you given me a voice, then forced me to waste it covering this tripe? Is it because I hit that hobo with my car when I was 18 and drove off without checking on him? Or because I killed my twin brother in the womb? Because if you think about it, that second one was more your fault than mine — you knew damn well that there wasn’t enough room in there for the both of us, yet you allowed it to happen. Created in your image, I was, and now forever destined to spend my life toiling away in a Sisyphean hellscape only occasionally punctuated by bouts of LCD-induced levity. I renounce your name, lord and savior. I renounce your name.
1: GIBLERT. MELENDEZ.
As many on social media have been quick to point out, the website in which fans can purchase these bland, insanely-overpriced uniforms is already fraught with errors. From Marcio Lyoto Machida to Jacare “Ronaldo” Souza, the general lack of spellchecking out of the gate by Reebok is really something to behold, but none have given us more of a chuckle than that of former Strikeforce lightweight champion and UFC title challenger Giblert Melendez.
It’s a small mistake, really, but Twitter’s reaction to it has been nothing short of gold. Giblert’s already received his own handle, and is really looking forward to his fight against La Iaquinta on Jluy 15th. Other notable zingers included:
Congrats on another home run of a press conference, UFC, and don’t let the fact that next to no fighters are voicing their support for these uniforms online dissuade you from plowing ahead with this poorly-conceived endeavor. Like it ever has, amiright?! Up top!!
I sort of remember where I was when Fighters Only announced the first World MMA Awards. What a moment. I sat there at my desk in my two-bedroom apartment in beautiful Henderson, Nevada, reading the announcement and nominee list. I may have thought something like “This won’t last more than a year” or maybe I just finished reading and moved on with my life. December 2008 was a wild time, man.
Yet, here we are during the annual War on Christmas in 2014 and the World MMA Awards are going strong with their seventh annual edition. They proved the maybe-fictional version of my 2008 self wrong.
Fighters Only released this year’s nominee list on Monday, and I have some thoughts. Allow me to list them for you…
1. Someone ran the nominee photos through the “2003” filter. The World MMA Awards built itself a flashy website complete with a sweet animated countdown clock and high-res background video of last year’s awards and 2014 UFC highlights which I’m sure cost a lot of money to license (wink wink). Yet when you click through to vote, you find headshots of nominees that look like they were shot on a flip phone a decade ago.
2.International Fighter of the Year is still a thing. For the first two years, International Fighter of the Year was known as European Fighter of the Year, which, okay, Fighters Only is a UK publication or whatever. They renamed it for 2010, and fighters “outside the Americas” are eligible. Now I’m not sure of the point. Every winner of the award (including the original Euro winners) had a presence in the United States the year they won. Plus, MMA is a global sport, and international fighters aren’t disqualified or handicapped from winning Fighter of the Year proper. The first three winners were non-Americans Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre (who technically isn’t eligible for International Fighter of the Year anyway), and Jose Aldo. You could always present a non-UFC Fighter of the Year and prevent things like…
I sort of remember where I was when Fighters Only announced the first World MMA Awards. What a moment. I sat there at my desk in my two-bedroom apartment in beautiful Henderson, Nevada, reading the announcement and nominee list. I may have thought something like “This won’t last more than a year” or maybe I just finished reading and moved on with my life. December 2008 was a wild time, man.
Yet, here we are during the annual War on Christmas in 2014 and the World MMA Awards are going strong with their seventh annual edition. They proved the maybe-fictional version of my 2008 self wrong.
Fighters Only released this year’s nominee list on Monday, and I have some thoughts. Allow me to list them for you…
1. Someone ran the nominee photos through the “2003” filter. The World MMA Awards built itself a flashy website complete with a sweet animated countdown clock and high-res background video of last year’s awards and 2014 UFC highlights which I’m sure cost a lot of money to license (wink wink). Yet when you click through to vote, you find headshots of nominees that look like they were shot on a flip phone a decade ago.
2.International Fighter of the Year is still a thing. For the first two years, International Fighter of the Year was known as European Fighter of the Year, which, okay, Fighters Only is a UK publication or whatever. They renamed it for 2010, and fighters “outside the Americas” are eligible. Now I’m not sure of the point. Every winner of the award (including the original Euro winners) had a presence in the United States the year they won. Plus, MMA is a global sport, and international fighters aren’t disqualified or handicapped from winning Fighter of the Year proper. The first three winners were non-Americans Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre (who technically isn’t eligible for International Fighter of the Year anyway), and Jose Aldo. You could always present a non-UFC Fighter of the Year and prevent things like…
3. Emanuel Newton nominated for Fighter of the Year. Newton wasn’t nominated last year when he upset “King” Mo Lawal (and Bjorn Rebney) twice. So, he turns around in 2014 and rattles off wins against luminous names like Attila Vegh, Joey Beltran, and Linton Vassell and finds himself nominated. This is worse than Bloody Elbow readers voting Matt Brown as their fighter of the year in 2012.
4.Speaking of Bloody Elbow, Brent Brookhouse wasn’t nominated for journalist of the year. Bloody Elbow was given a token nomination for Media Source of the Year, so at least someone’s paying attention. Brookhouse gets left off despite a now-long history of investigative work AND breaking the biggest story of the year. If only he held a microphone, wore children’s shoes, and asked fighters about their beards…
5.Two nominees for Media Source of the Year have documented ties to the UFC. MMA Junkie belongs to USA Today, which has some sort of partnership deal with the UFC. Fightland is, in Tim Marchman’s words, a “joint UFC/Vice venture.” That same report also noted instances of Fightland editing pieces in order to appear more favorable to the promotion.
6.Mike Dolce found himself nominated for Trainer of the Year. Dolce’s claim to fame in 2014 is an ongoing feud with BJ Penn over Dolce’s work for Penn leading up to what turned out to be a disaster of a trilogy fight against Frankie Edgar. Penn isn’t the first fighter to complain about Dolce’s contributions, and both Phil Baroni and Tito Ortiz have chimed in with their thoughts on the Dolce Diet guru.
7.Someone or someones thought Brendan Schaub was worthy of a Personality of the Year nomination. Schaub co-hosts the Fighter and The Kid podcast with Bryan Callen and regularly appears on Joe Rogan’s podcast where Rogan occasionally Kano’s him in front of thousands of viewers. Schaub seems like a nice-enough and articulate-enough guy, but I couldn’t make it more than a minute into an episode of the Fighter and The Kid without feeling embarrassed for everyone involved.
8.Leading Man of the Year, a category sexist enough for the MMA community. Sorry, Shannon Knapp, no matter how many millions of streams Invicta tallies, you’ll never find yourself nominated for the de facto “promoter of the year” category. But hey, there’s a category for you if you wanna throw on a bikini and walk around with numbered signs.
9. Sponsored by Bodybuilding.com and RDX Sports. Nothing says classy gala affair like a store/forum pushing workout pills and unrealistic body expectations and a UK martial arts equipment provider with fewer Twitter followers than a certain tuber-themed MMA site.
10.Holy shit, they let the fans vote on this stuff. The World MMA Awards are determined by the Eddie Justbleeds of the world. Surely, said Justbleeds recognize the relative merits of Ray Longo’s and Duane Ludwig’s coaching techniques. Surely, they recognize such trainers as Doug Balzarini, Brian Blue, Jake Bonacci, and Joel Jamieson. Surely, Garry Cook and Victor Cui are household names. Surely, they understand the difference between “lifestyle” and “technical” clothing brands, and are familiar enough with the “technical equipment” to provide a fair and balanced ballot.
The World MMA Awards: The awards show that MMA deserves, but not the one it needs right now. Or ever.
With yet another year coming to an end, CagePotato.com is reviving anoldholidaytradition: MMA predictions for the upcoming year that are so wild and outrageous that some of them might actually come to fruition. If you’re looking to read statements along the lines of “JOSE ALDO REMAINS DOMINANT AT FEATHERWEIGHT YOU GUYZZZ,” kindly move along; there are plenty of other two-bit MMA writers “brave” enough to state such obvious things for you. Still here? Then let’s grab some eggnog and see what 2015 has in store for us.
1. CM Punk‘s First UFC Opponent Won’t Even Have a Sherdog Profile When the Fight Is First Announced.
Look, the last thing that I want to do is get all high and mighty about the UFC’s decision to sign CM Punk; the UFC is a sports entertainment company, so why wouldn’t they sign the hottest free agent in sports entertainment? But at the same time, Punk’s qualifications to fight in the major leagues are non-existent. We’re dealing with a guy who, up to this point, has dabbled in jiu-jitsu and sparred a few times. Forget a UFC-caliber fighter — most people can’t even beat an experienced amateur fighter after less than a year of serious training. So let’s not even joke about whether or not CM Punk’s first UFC opponent will have his own Wikipedia page, because he obviously won’t. If the UFC expects any sane athletic commission to sanction a bout featuring Punk, they’re going to have to find somebody so obscure that not even the folks at Sherdog will know who he is.
2. A Member of the Official UFC Rankings Committee Is Accused of Partaking in a “Pay for Rankings” Scandal.
(Heading into 2015, these are the two most famous people associated with MMA. I’ve got nothing snarky to add to that.)
With yet another year coming to an end, CagePotato.com is reviving anoldholidaytradition: MMA predictions for the upcoming year that are so wild and outrageous that some of them might actually come to fruition. If you’re looking to read statements along the lines of “JOSE ALDO REMAINS DOMINANT AT FEATHERWEIGHT YOU GUYZZZ,” kindly move along; there are plenty of other two-bit MMA writers “brave” enough to state such obvious things for you. Still here? Then let’s grab some eggnog and see what 2015 has in store for us.
1. CM Punk‘s First UFC Opponent Won’t Even Have a Sherdog Profile When the Fight Is First Announced.
Look, the last thing that I want to do is get all high and mighty about the UFC’s decision to sign CM Punk; the UFC is a sports entertainment company, so why wouldn’t they sign the hottest free agent in sports entertainment? But at the same time, Punk’s qualifications to fight in the major leagues are non-existent. We’re dealing with a guy who, up to this point, has dabbled in jiu-jitsu and sparred a few times. Forget a UFC-caliber fighter — most people can’t even beat an experienced amateur fighter after less than a year of serious training. So let’s not even joke about whether or not CM Punk’s first UFC opponent will have his own Wikipedia page, because he obviously won’t. If the UFC expects any sane athletic commission to sanction a bout featuring Punk, they’re going to have to find somebody so obscure that not even the folks at Sherdog will know who he is.
2. A Member of the Official UFC Rankings Committee Is Accused of Partaking in a “Pay for Rankings” Scandal.
This is all to say that the moment the UFC announced how the official rankings will directly affect fighter pay, there likely was a manager who sent every member of the rankings panel an envelope full of cash and a convenient list of every fighter he manages. If that hasn’t already happened, it almost assuredly will once the new system actually kicks in next year.
3. A UFC Champion Sells The Right to Select His/Her Walkout Music.
Or perhaps more accurately, Rampage Jackson will go full “Mitch ‘Blood’ Green against Bruce Johnson.” Rampage has apparently re-signed with the UFC — despite the fact that he did nothing but whine about how awful the UFC was when he was last with the promotion — although Bellator seems prepared to battle the UFC in court for the right to keep booking him. There is no winner here. If Bellator actually thinks they’re getting one more legitimate fight out of ‘Page, they’re hopelessly delusional. And if the UFC actually thinks that a guy with Jackson’s persecution complex isn’t going to cause trouble this time around, well, I’m not sue that the English language has a word for that. I can see Rampage — frustrated by his position with the only two MMA companies who can afford to bring him in — allowing his next fight devolve into a certified catastrophe.
TITO IS BACK, BABY! Okay, so that’s a gigantic stretch. But seeing how easily the aforementioned Rampage Jackson effortlessly dispose of former Bellator champion Christian M’Pumbu, I wouldn’t be surprised at all to watch Tito Ortiz take home the second-most valuable Light-Heavyweight Championship in MMA.
You remember Matt Riddle, right? TUF castmember, UFC welterweight, likeable stoner? The one with the longish hair and the mushroom tattoo? Yeah, he’s training to be a professional wrestler now. I see no reason why an indie wrestling organization won’t put a title around his waist in 2015.
And now, let’s bring everything full-circle and end with another Phil Brooks prediction:
10.) CM Punk Walks Out on the UFC.
The guy who walked out on the WWE over mistreatment from both the WWE and the professional wrestling fans who’ve never wrestled a day in their lives, yet think they know everything about being a wrestler. He then signs with the UFC, seemingly convinced that the UFC isn’t exploitative at all whatsoever and that MMA fans are the most respectful people alive. Well, Mr. Brooks, to borrow a quote from one of your former colleagues, I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news…
(Darren Uyenoyama was released by the UFC after going 0-2 last year. At the time of this writing, three different UFC ranking panelists still have him listed as a top 10 flyweight. Read on for more disturbing facts! / Photo via Getty)
“These panelists may have a direct effect on how much fighters get paid.”
I kept telling myself that as I filtered through each UFC panelist’s ranking data, shaking my head in total disbelief.
For quite some time, MMA media, fighters and fans alike campaigned for better fighter pay. With the UFC announcing a six-year sponsorship deal with Reebok this past Tuesday (totaling an estimated $70 million), we were told that every penny would go into the fighters’ pockets. After all, the UFC’s primary reason for making this deal was to add a layer of professionalism to their organization, one which would make them in a way, similar to other major sports organizations.
So say goodbye to the fight banners, the sponsor-covered shorts, and the walkout shirts! For the next six years, it’s Reebok only, baby! Any sponsors that the fighters and their managers have already secured will be banned from being visible inside the Octagon. Depending on the loyalty of sponsors, we could end up seeing a lot more of this. Conversely, if the UFC does overhaul the ranking system and a fair pay structure is implemented, sponsor loyalty won’t be an issue. A new ranking system should provide an unbiased/accurate/educated selection of each division’s top 15 — a system that will award the UFC’s athletes with the fair and adequate sponsorship money they deserve.
As of right now, a fighter’s sponsorship cut will be tied directly to where they sit in the UFC rankings. That’s right… the same rankings done by the always reliable UFC-approved voting panelists. According to DFW, the current panelist voting system will soon be updated; White aims to narrow down the current field of panelists to a select few “legitimate, credible and ethical guys” in order to gain better results. Unfortunately for White, every “legitimate, credible, and ethical guy” in MMA media has already recognized the blatant conflict of interest this system presents and has refused to participate in the ranking system.
With that said, I have put together a list of the 10 worst panelists currently contributing to the UFC’s divisional rankings. Let’s get started.
10. Bruno Massami (GazetaEsportiva.net) – Sergio Pettis came into the UFC with a lot of hype, he was undefeated, the former RFA flyweight champion, and Anthony Pettis’s younger brother. Sergio won his bantamweight debut against short notice opponent and former #9 flyweight Will Campuzano. However, he followed his debut with a submission loss to the unranked Alex Caceres, before bouncing back with a forgettable decision victory over unranked Yaotzin Meza. Massami, like many panelists, may have personal favorites in the UFC, but rankings must be unbiased, objective, and logical. None of those criteria apply when Massami placed Sergio as the #10 bantamweight.
9. Steve Juon (Wrestling Observer) – From my analysis the bantamweight division appeared to give most panelists problems. The division itself had 101 records of questionable rankings. The closest division to having as many problems was middleweight with 28 recorded rankings issues. Now when I analyzed my data it wasn’t just a matter of pointing out who had Tim Kennedy at #7 when I think he should be #8. No, I noted every instance of downright BAD ranking. Steve Juon apparently missed the last few years of the bantamweight division as this is how he has the top names in the division seeded…
(Darren Uyenoyama was released by the UFC after going 0-2 last year. At the time of this writing, three different UFC ranking panelists still have him listed as a top 10 flyweight. Read on for more disturbing facts! / Photo via Getty)
“These panelists may have a direct effect on how much fighters get paid.”
I kept telling myself that as I filtered through each UFC panelist’s ranking data, shaking my head in total disbelief.
For quite some time, MMA media, fighters and fans alike campaigned for better fighter pay. With the UFC announcing a six-year sponsorship deal with Reebok this past Tuesday (totaling an estimated $70 million), we were told that every penny would go into the fighters’ pockets. After all, the UFC’s primary reason for making this deal was to add a layer of professionalism to their organization, one which would make them in a way, similar to other major sports organizations.
So say goodbye to the fight banners, the sponsor-covered shorts, and the walkout shirts! For the next six years, it’s Reebok only, baby! Any sponsors that the fighters and their managers have already secured will be banned from being visible inside the Octagon. Depending on the loyalty of sponsors, we could end up seeing a lot more of this. Conversely, if the UFC does overhaul the ranking system and a fair pay structure is implemented, sponsor loyalty won’t be an issue. A new ranking system should provide an unbiased/accurate/educated selection of each division’s top 15 — a system that will award the UFC’s athletes with the fair and adequate sponsorship money they deserve.
As of right now, a fighter’s sponsorship cut will be tied directly to where they sit in the UFC rankings. That’s right… the same rankings done by the always reliable UFC-approved voting panelists. According to DFW, the current panelist voting system will soon be updated; White aims to narrow down the current field of panelists to a select few “legitimate, credible and ethical guys” in order to gain better results. Unfortunately for White, every “legitimate, credible, and ethical guy” in MMA media has already recognized the blatant conflict of interest this system presents and has refused to participate in the ranking system.
10. Bruno Massami (GazetaEsportiva.net) – Sergio Pettis came into the UFC with a lot of hype, he was undefeated, the former RFA flyweight champion, and Anthony Pettis’s younger brother. Sergio won his bantamweight debut against short notice opponent and former #9 flyweight Will Campuzano. However, he followed his debut with a submission loss to the unranked Alex Caceres, before bouncing back with a forgettable decision victory over unranked Yaotzin Meza. Massami, like many panelists, may have personal favorites in the UFC, but rankings must be unbiased, objective, and logical. None of those criteria apply when Massami placed Sergio as the #10 bantamweight.
9. Steve Juon (Wrestling Observer) – From my analysis the bantamweight division appeared to give most panelists problems. The division itself had 101 records of questionable rankings. The closest division to having as many problems was middleweight with 28 recorded rankings issues. Now when I analyzed my data it wasn’t just a matter of pointing out who had Tim Kennedy at #7 when I think he should be #8. No, I noted every instance of downright BAD ranking. Steve Juon apparently missed the last few years of the bantamweight division as this is how he has the top names in the division seeded…
Urijah Faber #1
Dominick Cruz #2
Renan Barao #3
Don’t get me wrong, I love the California Kid, and Cruz’s destruction of Takeya Mizugaki should bring him back in the top 3 of the division without a doubt. However, having Faber ranked above the two guys that defeated him is downright ridiculous.
8. Jorge Correa (UOL Brazil) – Besides ranking Brad Pickett and Scott Jorgensen in the wrong division — eight other panelists ranked these two in the wrong weight class as well — Correa had Eddie Wineland ranked as the #7 bantamweight in the world, which at first doesn’t seem like a big deal, however the guy that recently knocked him out wasn’t even ranked. The shocking part is Correa wasn’t the only panelist to do this. Of the 21 panelists that did rank Eddie Wineland, 11 ranked him higher than Johnny Eduardo, while the remaining 10 didn’t have Eduardo ranked AT ALL.
On top of his baffling bantamweight decisions, Correa also ranked Stephen Thompson as the #9 welterweight, Patrick Cummins the #9 light-heavyweight and Soa Palelei as the #7 heavyweight in the world. Are they top 30 fighters? Absolutely! Are they top 10? I’m not convinced.
7. Joe Ferraro (Sportsnet) – The man they call “Showdown Joe” has been a fixture of Canadian MMA news for a long time, working his way up from colour commentary at local promotions, to hosting his own radio show before making it big and working for Rogers Sportsnet, hosting the station’s first MMA dedicated sports program. Now, Ferraro is a trained martial artist, an experienced broadcaster, and was awarded the Journalist of the Year award by Fighters Only Magazine in 2009, so one could only assume that his rankings would be free of any bias.
Besides being one of the eight panelists to rank Brad Pickett in the wrong weight class, Ferraro also ranked Brad Pickett in the RIGHT weight class! Ranking Brad as both the #7 bantamweight and the #10 flyweight; a prestigious honor for Pickett despite his current two-fight losing streak at flyweight.
Finally, ‘Showdown Joe’ is a proud Canadian, and I applaud him for giving credit to developing Canadian talent! However, Yves Jabouin being ranked as the #10 bantamweight is…confusing. In the past two years, Jabouin has beat Jeff Hougland, Dustin Pague and Mike Easton, none of whom still work for the UFC. Between those victories is a pair of knockout losses to Brad Pickett and Eddie Wineland. Again, Jabouin isn’t a BAD fighter; he’s even shown sparks of brilliance. However, based on his last two years in the UFC, one simply cannot justify him being ranked as the #10 guy.
6.Marcelo Russio (Canal Combate) – There are two things that make Marcelo Russio stand out from all other panelists in terms of being terrible. The first is, like Steve Juon before him, Russio has apparently not watched a bantamweight fight once this year. Besides ranking Renan Barao (former champion) below Raphael Assuncao, Russio ranked George Roop and Erik Perez the #8 and #10 bantamweights, respectively.
After a disappointing return to the UFC in the featherweight division, Roop decided to go full skeletor and drop to bantamweight where he picked up wins against Reuben Duran and former champion Brian Bowles. However, his time at bantamweight has turned ugly as he’s lost two of his last three fights by brutal knockout, with the most recent one against debuting fighter Rob “IMPACT” Font. Yes, I’m trying to get that nickname started. Try and stop me…
Erik Perez has victories over Edwin Figueroa, Byron Bloodworth, Ken Stone, and John Albert (all cut from the UFC since) with losses coming against top 10 competition in Bryan Caraway and Takeya Mizugaki. However, just because you FACE top 10 competition, doesn’t mean you’ve earned a spot IN the top 10.
The second thing that separated Russio from all 51 other panelists was that he had ranked the most fighters to not appear on anyone else’s list. Russio ranked Fabio Maldonado #10 in the light-heavyweight division, Ryan LaFlare the #10 at welterweight, and the aforementioned George Roop as the #8 bantamweight.
Wait, it gets worse — much worse. Continue to the next page for the five most dangerously confused UFC ranking panelists…
They say pimping ain’t easy, and that’s probably true for promoting too. (There’s a whole host of other uncomfortable comparisons to be made between the two professions as well.) Pimping is probably a lot harder when you constantly denigrate your talent. “Yeah, Mary? She makes a weird squealing noise when you bang her. But hey, it’s your money.” Yet, that’s exactly what UFC president Dana White does. Here are the top ten instances of Dana White burying his own fighters.
Kenny Florian and Nate Marquardt are two very different people. Where Florian is a suave, dark-haired Massachusetts lifer, Marquardt is a ginger mountain man who made sure to list himself first and foremost as a Christian on his Twitter bio. They have one thing in common though: Dana White called them both chokers.
Nate Marquardt lost a close fight to Yushin Okami at UFC 122. Okami was 9-2 in the UFC heading into the fight, and would go on to fight Anderson Silva for the title in his next appearance. That didn’t stop Dana White from calling Marquardt a choker and blasting the Greg Jackson-led corner (more on him in a bit!) for telling Marquardt he was leading on points.
As for Florian, White said he didn’t want to “take anything away from Gray Maynard” and wasn’t “bad-mouthing” or “trying to disrespect” Florian after UFC 118. But that’s exactly what he did when he said Florian “chokes in big fights” before reducing his performance to standing and staring at Maynard. Florian’s five UFC losses came to Diego Sanchez, Sean Sherk, B.J. Penn, Maynard, and Jose Aldo — all champions or title challengers. Maybe, just maybe, the overachieving Florian just wasn’t on their level?
They say pimping ain’t easy, and that’s probably true for promoting too. (There’s a whole host of other uncomfortable comparisons to be made between the two professions as well.) Pimping is probably a lot harder when you constantly denigrate your talent. “Yeah, Mary? She makes a weird squealing noise when you bang her. But hey, it’s your money.” Yet, that’s exactly what UFC president Dana White does. Here are the top ten instances of Dana White burying his own fighters.
Kenny Florian and Nate Marquardt are two very different people. Where Florian is a suave, dark-haired Massachusetts lifer, Marquardt is a ginger mountain man who made sure to list himself first and foremost as a Christian on his Twitter bio. They have one thing in common though: Dana White called them both chokers.
Nate Marquardt lost a close fight to Yushin Okami at UFC 122. Okami was 9-2 in the UFC heading into the fight, and would go on to fight Anderson Silva for the title in his next appearance. That didn’t stop Dana White from calling Marquardt a choker and blasting the Greg Jackson-led corner (more on him in a bit!) for telling Marquardt he was leading on points.
As for Florian, White said he didn’t want to “take anything away from Gray Maynard” and wasn’t “bad-mouthing” or “trying to disrespect” Florian after UFC 118. But that’s exactly what he did when he said Florian “chokes in big fights” before reducing his performance to standing and staring at Maynard. Florian’s five UFC losses came to Diego Sanchez, Sean Sherk, B.J. Penn, Maynard, and Jose Aldo — all champions or title challengers. Maybe, just maybe, the overachieving Florian just wasn’t on their level?
Jose Aldo is undefeated in 14 fights under the Zuffa banner. He’s lost a single fight in his career, submitting to a rear-naked choke in his eighth pro bout less than two years after his debut. He’s been very good for a very long time. Yet, Dana White couldn’t help himself after Aldo took a wide decision over Ricardo Lamas at UFC 169:
“The thing about Jose Aldo that drives me crazy is the kid has all the talent in the world. He’s explosive, fast. He can do anything but he just lays back and doesn’t let anything go.
“When you talk about being the pound-for-pound best in the world, you can’t go five rounds with guys that it looks like you can defeat them in the second round. That’s what Aldo has a habit of doing.”
Jose Aldo fights Chad Mendes in two weeks at UFC 179. This is what happened the last time Aldo met Mendes.
Josh Koscheck, for all intents and purposes, is a UFC lifer. After two fights outside the UFC, Koscheck joined the inaugural Ultimate Fighter cast and made his real deal UFC debut in April 2005. He’s fought every single one of his next 23 pro fights in the UFC, amassing a 15-8 record inside the Octagon against the top fighters at 170 pounds.
On the UFC 169 undercard, Alistair Overeem met former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir. Overeem outstruck Mir 139 to 5 en route to a unanimous decision. (A decision that saw zero 10-8 rounds handed out because we can’t have nice things in MMA.) Dana White gave Overeem a thumbs down and called it a “crappy performance.” Whatever you say, Commodus.
Unhappy with the terms of his contract, Nate Diaz held out most of 2014. I mean, hey, it worked out famously for his brother, who wound up with a three-fight extension and a fight against Anderson Silva. Nate quietly ended his holdout a few weeks ago, and what did he receive? No new contract, and Dana White labeling him as someone who “doesn’t move the needle.” So, the UFC matched him up with some schlub and put him on the Fight Pass prelims, right? Oh, no no, my friend. Nate Diaz, prohibitor of needle moving, gets a top-five opponent in Rafael dos Anjos in a featured bout on Big Fox.
Let’s be honest: Jon Fitch doesn’t have the best reputation among fans. Between 2005 and 2010, the only thing more secure than Fitch’s spot near the top of the welterweight rankings was the inevitable fan backlash about his “boring” style every time he fought. But, you know, it’s probably in a promoter’s best interest not to feed that perception. Yet, here’s Dana White ahead of UFC 141 in 2011:
“You hear the same thing from everybody about Jon Fitch: ‘If I want to get to sleep and I can’t get to sleep at night, I’ll put in a Jon Fitch fight.’ … [F]ind one person that will tell you they love a Jon Fitch fight, it’s the most exciting thing they’ve ever seen and they just get so excited for it.”
And we were surprised this guy cut Fitch after he went 1-2 in his next three fights.
Continue to the next page for Dana’s four greatest fighter burials!
